Sweet Little Face

Here are some random pics that show off Kacie's sweet little face. I know I'm biased, but I could look at that face all day long. :)

Silly Face

One day when Kacie and I were playing, I told her she was being silly. She started looking away, and then looking back at me with a silly face. I was cracking up, so of course she kept doing it. I got these pictures of that face.

New Toys!

I went to a consignment sale last weekend and got Kacie some new toys. Even though our living room is overrun with toys, she needed some "big girl" toys.

Here is her dollhouse

Here is her stroller

The stroller came with a baby bed and a high-chair, but I guess I don't have any pictures of those. She is having a blast taking care of her babies!

17 Months!

17 months! The time is flying by! I almost forgot to take her picture with all the craziness of being at school.

Here's the scoop on Kacie this month:

• She has added Grandma and Grandpa to her vocabulary.
• She is suddenly fascinated with birds. And her word for them is "dodo" and we're not sure why. She squeals and gets very excited when she sees one. Mrs. Karen has some birds in her classroom, and I think that is what sparked her interest.
• She has to say bye-bye to everything and everyone when we leave the house or Mrs. Karen's house. She literally walks around and says "bye-bye" and pats chairs, toys, the floor, dolls, the wall, I mean everything. It's so funny
• She has also started saying shoe, eyes, more, read, and ice, bite, and hat.
• When she wants me to sing she says "A-B" for ABCs, she does the hand motions for  Itsy Bitsy Spider, or says "Ha-Da" for the Hot Dog song on Mickey Mouse.
• She has started saying Daddy instead of Dada.
• We pass cows in a field on the way home every day, so it's become a new routine to drive slowly by the fence so she can "moo" at them. (She actually says "boo" instead of "moo". It's so cute).
• She figured out you can get water from the fridge. She will hold a cup up and stand on her tippy toes to try to push the water lever. We now have to remember to keep it locked because she can reach it now.
• We have transitioned to 1 nap because that's what they do at Karen's. She's adapting very well, but she still gets tired around 10-11 am. If we are out, she will usually fall asleep in the car. The main thing is when she took 2 naps, they were usually about 1 1/2 hrs each. Now instead of one long nap, her one nap is just 1 1/2 hours. This makes for a very cranky girl around 6-7 pm. I'm hoping she'll start sleeping longer as she gets used to it. It's only been a few weeks.
• She has had a few more "tantrums" that only last about 30 seconds, but that piercing scream is a sign of toddler years yet to come! We can usually distract her easily enough by tickling her or handing her her Minnie doll.
• She has become very attached to her Minnie Mouse doll. She takes it in the car wherever we go, and she has started sleeping with it as well. 
• She loves to dance and really shakes those hips when she hears any kind of music. 
• She is wearing 12 & 18 month clothes, size 5 & 6 shoes, and 4 & 5 in diapers.
• She knows SO many animal sounds and can correctly identify by pointing at almost anything we ask her in her books. She is just soaking up and copying everything we do and say, including "Awww man!" and "Darn it!" 
• She's still very laid back and usually very obedient. I definitely see a stubborn streak every once in a while, but she's still very sweet. 

Here are the pics from her photo session:

Almost halfway to two years old! Yikes! We love you little princess!

California Visitors

Some of the McNeely clan visited from California. Kevin's mom, Connie, brought his 2 nieces Alyssa & Lindsey to Texas. We got to go over to Kevin & Allison's house one evening to visit. Connie is one of Jason's mom's best friends, and Lindsey & Alyssa were the Flower Girls in our wedding, so we were glad to see them.  I wish I would have taken more pictures, but we were busy talking and watching the kids play.

Macey & Kacie playing

 Lindsey & Kacie

 All the kiddos eating dinner

 Alyssa & Kacie

It was a fun visit. Hopefully the next time we see them will be in California.

Kacie's First Day of School

Well, it's not really "school," but it was her first day at Ms. Karen's house, which also means it was my first day back at school.  We went over so Kacie could meet Karen last week, but I wasn't sure how she would act when I dropped her off in the morning. She's still hit-or-miss with strangers. Here is her first day of school outfit.

 Thankfully, she didn't cry when I left. She had a very serious and somber look on her face, but she didn't cry. Karen sent me this picture later and I loved seeing her smiling. 

She did pretty well. The main issue is the nap. The kids sleep on mats and blankets on the floor, so I didn't know how Kacie would do. She went to sleep easily, but didn't sleep very long. When she woke up, the other kids were still asleep, so Karen had to try to keep her quiet and still. That's hard to do with a 1 year old! Kacie is the youngest of 4 kids that are there. I think it will be perfect for her this year!!

One Last Outing

On our last day of summer break before I had to start inservice, we went with Amy, Addison, and Dawson to a place called "Jump Mania." It is a bounce house place that has an open gym for 3 and under every Thursday. Kacie LOVED it. I wish we had known about it all summer.

 She liked jumping, but she played with the toys almost as much

What a fun way to end our summer. She also took a 4 hour nap when we got home!